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Simple Homemade Lighter

About: I've always liked pulling things apart - it's the putting back together again that I have some issues with.
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Make a simple lighter out of a few off the shelf parts. I’ve made a few lighters of late (see list below) and this would have to be the one of the simplest and easiest to make. All of the parts can be purchased easily and you could make this with very basic tools. The most complicated tool you’ll need is a small blowtorch for soldering!

The main parts that go into making this is a schrader valve (air valve like the one in a bike tube), some copper pipe, nutsert, and the sparkwheel from a clipper lighter. For those who don’t know, a clipper lighter can be purchased cheaply from most places that sell tobacco. They are re-fillable lighters that also have a replaceable sparkwheel, which is ideal to use in this project.

Step 3: Soldering the Valve Into Place

1. Cut a length of the 1/2" tube. About 100mm or however long you want the lighter to be.

2. Push the valve into the end of the 1/2" tube.

2. Add some flux around the edges of the valve and brass tube.

2. Heat-up the area with a small blow torch

3. Add some solder all around the edges. Try not to get any on the thread of the valve.

Step 4: Rounding the Edges

There’s a simple way to round off the top of the lighter using a drill as a makeshift lathe. I also did an ‘ible on how to do this which can be found here. In this version, I just used a drill bit and some tape to make the shaft for the lathe!

Steps:

1. Place the drill into a vice to hold it steady.

2. Add some tape to the drill bit and push on the lighter body

3. Turn on the drill and start to file the edge of the top of the lighter.

4. Keep on checking your work and removing the edge.

5. Once you are happy with the way it looks, use some 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out the edges

6. Go right through the grits (right up to 1200) to finish it off.

Step 5: Soldering the Nutsert

Steps:

1. The nutsert will fit perfectly into the end of the 1/2" tube. Push it into place

2. Next solder the nutsert into place. You can see from my images I didn't do a great job of it. It wasn't an issue however as I just filed it down.

3. Put the lighter onto the makeshift lathe again (or you could just hand file it) and file down the edge of the nutsert and any solder.

4. Use the wet/dry sandpaper to finish it off.

Step 6: Add the Sparkwheel

I took the easy path with the sparkwheel and just used one from a clipper lighter. However, if you want you can make them as I have done in the other 'ibles in the intro.

Steps:

1. Cut the 7mm tube so it's around the same length of the lighter.

2. Place the sparkwheel into the end of the tube and place it against the lighter body to work out where you need to solder it to the body. Remember, you can always file down the top of the 7mm tube if it is too long later so it's better to make it a little too high then too short.

3. Place the body and 7mm tube into a vice to hold it in place. Add some flux and solder to the join and heat to melt it.

4. File away any excess solder and sand back the metal with wet/dry sandpaper to finish off. I also give it a bit of a polish with a metal polish to remove any last scratches.

5. Use a pair of pliers and slightly squash the top of the sparkwheel tube as shown in the images. The sparkwheel has 2 small gussets at the top and squashing the tube will ensure that it stays in place.

6. On the sparkwheel and flint, there is a small lip of plastic that I decided to remove as well. It would be sitting near the flame of the lighter and I didn't want it to melt.

Step 7: Make a Wick

I couldn't find any cotton rope that was thin enough to fit into the top of the valve so I made my own wick out of some thicker rope

Steps:

1. First, start to un-twist the rope and release the braids

2. Place the end of the rope into a vice or something similar so you have something to hold the rope

3. Next grab 4 lots of the braids and twist them together

4. Wrap some thin wire around the rope. This will ensure that the wick keeps it's shape and doesn't un-twist

5. Cut the wick away from the rope and trim the wire

Step 8: Adding the Wick and Filling the Lighter

Steps:

1. Thread the wick through the top of the valve and push it through the bottom of the lighter

2. Start to stuff small wads of cotton balls into the end of the lighter. Use something thin and long to push the cotton balls up into the lighter body. Make sure you compact it good inside the lighter. It's also important to try and keep the wick in the middle of the lighter so when adding the cotton wads, make sure you evenly spread them around the inside of the lighter

3. Once the lighter is full, trim the wick on both ends and make sure that the bolt for the bottom of the lighter screws into place.

4. Add a small O ring to the bottom of the bolt as well. This will stop any fuel leakage

5. Inside the valve lid there is a small seal - make sure you remove this to allow more room inside of it for the wick.

6. When filling with zippo fuel, make sure you have the lid loose on the top so the fuel will flow down the lighter. Fill it up until the fuel starts to either come out the top or stops being absorbed by the cotton wool.

7. Screw in the bolt to the bottom, wipe off any excess fuel and try it out.

I absolutely love this little thing! Every time I look at it, I want to make one even more. I love the design, how it can stay lit until the user puts the cap on. I feel like this might be a good alternative to buying a Zippo lighter, because they tend to be expensive.

You can make your own sparkwheels if you want to as I have done on other 'ibles. I just wanted to take the easiest path possible (hence the "simple" in the 'ible). Plus you get a lighter that you will want to keep rather than one you will thrown away at some point.

The zippo wicks also now have wire in them. I don't see why you couldn't use candle wicks. I would probably twist 2 or 3 together still and secure with wire as they might be a little thin to use by themselves.